Two-time Olympic taekwondo champion Steven Lopez has been declared permanently ineligible after the U.S. Center for SafeSport found him in violation of its code for sexual misconduct involving a minor.
Lopez declined to be interviewed in the case, which meant SafeSport had no reason to question the allegations by Nina Zampetti. Regardless, the center found there was a “preponderance of … evidence” that Lopez had sexually abused Zampetti when she was 14, according to the SafeSport decision, which was obtained by USA TODAY Sports.
“I’m happy to finally be heard and taken serious,” Zampetti said Friday night in a text message to USA TODAY Sports.